Newly crowned Junior World Pairs Champions Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya hopes of early qualification to the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang next February have been dashed despite making it to the final sixteen at the World Figure Skating Championships early this morning. 

The talented pair, who have surprised the skating world with their meteoric rise in just one season, skated their way into the final against 27 senior pairs with a superb short program – smashing their personal best. 

Skating in the early group for the free program, Windsor and Alexandrovskaya delivered a 4.30 minute program with triple twists, jumps and throws but a fall by both skaters on their easier triple jump kept the emerging duo in 16th place, just behind the North Korean couple and 2016 World Junior Champions from the Czech Republic.

In a cruel twist, the sixteen Olympic qualifying quota places available at the World Championships was filled by only the top seven pair skating nations that were able to achieve multiple entries for 2018.

Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won their first World Championship ahead of Germany’s Aliona Savchenko and Bruno Massot. Bronze went Evgenia Tarasova and Vladimir Morozov from Russia.

Fourth to seventh places went to China, Russia and two Canadian pairs in a pressure-packed finals competition that was marred with errors by most pairs.

China, Russia and Canada qualified three teams each to PyeongChang plus Germany, France and Italy qualified two quota spots each and as a consequence, the younger pairs from the Czech Republic, North Korea and Australia missed the qualifying quota.

Quota spots are determined on country basis, considering the finishing places of all 28 competing pairs. Quota spots were not issued to the top 16 places.

Australia’s Windsor and Alexandrovskaya will have the opportunity to qualify for one of the four remaining pairs quota spots in September in Germany.

On the upside, Australia’s chances of making the Team Event for the top ten countries overall across all four figure skating disciplines have been enhanced by their 16th place. 

“The event went just liked we had hoped - qualifying for the long. Overall it was an amazing experience to compete at our first Senior World Championships,” Windsor said.

“We were extremely happy with the 16th place after the short because that was the goal, and whatever happened in the long happened.”

“At the beginning of the free we felt calm and the beginning started well. It was a bit of a shock for the both of us to fall on the side by side triple toes but we took the program one element at a time and tried our best to keep fighting throughout the program.”

The World Championships continues tonight with the Ladies. Australia’s Kailani Craine qualified 19th into the top 24 and final free skate.
 
Brendan Kerry delivered the performance of his career to date last night in the power-packed Men’s short program, placing 13th with a PB in one of the most exciting high-calibre men’s event ever witnessed. Kerry skates the free program on Saturday.
 
Breakdown of Qualification Pairs Skating Quota Spots from 2017 World Championships
At the World Championships, the system was as follows:

A country can earn thee quota places if they secure top two placements is equal to or less than 13, meaning three quota spots were issued to the following countries:

• China with two pairs coming 1st and 4th. Despite not having a third pair compete at the Championships they will qualify a third pair of the 2018 Winter Olympics.
• Russia secured three quota positions by having two pairs finish in 3rd and 5th position. They also had a third pair finish in 11th place.
• Canada also achieved this by having two pairs finish in 6th and 7th position at World Championships. Their third pair finished in 12th.

 
Countries could also secure two quota places at the 2018 Olympics by securing top two placements is equal to or less than 28.

• Germany had two pairs finish in 2nd and 19th, therefore qualifying two pairs
• Italy had two pairs finish in 9th and 11th, therefore qualifying two pairs

Countries were also awarded two quota places if one pair finished in the top 10 positions

• France had two pairs finish in 8th and 27th, therefore qualifying two pairs

The USA secured the final quota place with a pair finishing in 8th place.
Therefore, the following quota positions were achieved at the 2017 World Figure Skating Competition:

• China = 3
• Canada = 3
• Russia = 3
• Germany = 2
• Italy = 2
• France = 2
• USA = 1

The remainder of the spots will be filled at an ISU Olympic Qualification Competition in late September 2017. Countries which had already earned an entry to the Olympics will not be allowed to qualify more entries at this final qualifying competition. 
 

There’s always more to do, another mountain to climb, another challenge to conquer.

Just ask Australia’s top men’s figure skater and Sochi Olympian Brendan Kerry, who has managed a foot bone bruising for a year – an injury which seems to have been the making of the widely acknowledged talented skater who has gained confidence and maturity comp by comp, step by painful step.  

Always the precocious talent, sometimes hot and cold with results to match, this season has seen a distinct change in approach, attitude and results for the 22-year-old who relocated to Los Angeles four years ago to chase down his talent into the elite of men’s figure skating.

“I’ve always been able to do big tricks but mentally didn’t deal with errors in competition. The things I am able to do now with the quality that I’m doing has changed. This year has been a big step forward because if I wanted to stay in the game I had to manage injuries,” Kerry said.

His path hasn’t been a walk in the park – financially, emotionally or mentally until recently.    

“My approach to training is very different. For me before, it was enough to just do the program. Now I put a lot more into warm up and recovery than I used to.”

Coaching Kerry at Riverside in Los Angeles is his now long-time coach Tammy Gambill who has gone through the ups and downs with the talented young man.

“The before and now Brendan is like night and day. And it’s nice to have seen how he’s matured and grown up over the years here at Riverside,” coach Gambill said.

“Brendan is very endearing. A goof ball yes, but very sensitive at the same time. He’s a great team mate here and a very hard worker now. He is the early into the rink warming up and watching when and what he eats.”

“He is much more engaged and finally doing run throughs all the time. That was a hard process. I feel comfortable that he’s really well trained going into Worlds.”

The respect goes both ways.

“I trust Tammy and my choreographer Mark Pillay. We are leaving the short as it was in Four Continents and only made minor adjustments to the free. Tammy and Mark thought it best to leave it – so I’m pretty happy and just gonna trust that.”

The former junk food lover is consigned to memory.

“In general, my health and well-being is better. I do have the odd unhealthy meal and instead of going out after comps having a drink, these days it’s only one,” he said.

“So, yeah – compared to last season I do feel more accomplished and more confident. The better competitive vibe and performances goes hand-in-hand with doing better. No-one enjoys competing poorly.”

Gambill does have high expectations for Kerry, yet for this World Championships her hope is that the boy who became a man, “will go out and perform two great programs.”

Olympic qualification could be just days away for Australia’s super pair, Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya when they compete in the World Figure Skating Championships in Helsinki this week.

The amazing story of the 20-year-old indigenous man and his Moscow-born 17-year-old partner has grabbed attention world-wide since they burst onto the international scene last September, won a gold medal and capped off their junior season ten days ago by claiming the biggest prize of all – the Junior World Pair Skating Championship against much higher ranked and fancied teams.

Coming down off such a high and re-preparing for the all-important 2017 World Championship in the largest pairs field assembled in recent memory, will not be easy but this Aussie pair are up for yet another challenge.

The short program is vital because only sixteen pairs of the 28 entered will make it through to the final free program – and 16 Olympic qualification quota places by nation is what is at stake for all 28 pairs.

“It was hard to come down off Junior Worlds,” said Windsor from Moscow where the duo prepared for the upcoming event.

“The comps take it out of you. We had two days off – sort of – because had the exhibition gala to do at Junior Worlds.”
“When we got back to Moscow from Taipei, we arrived in the morning and trained in the afternoon.”

The hype surrounding the pair is understandable. To have achieved such a confident, trusting bond that is evident to casual watchers of figure skaters, let alone the experts - in only fourteen months, is a testament to their hard work and talent.

Magnificently executed lifts and triple jumps, twists and throws at high speed is only one component of what makes this pair equal to their competitors. The accelerated growth in their performance skills is probably what is the most surprising.

Matching lines, extension, emotion, trust and the desire to perform has developed rapidly from one competition to the next. Serious-minded Katia is comfortable on the big stage and the more laid-back, pragmatic Harley is where he wants to be. It shows.

“It’s been pretty crazy,” Harley said of the past ten days. “I keep thinking… wow – we won Junior Worlds. Then I think about Worlds coming up and I do get a bit nervous, just because it is Worlds.”

“Then part of me is like, we’ve done so many comps all season that this is just one more. All we have to do is just try to qualify in the short and then whatever happens in the free, happens.”

The #WorldFigure Skating Championships begin this Wednesday with the Ladies Short program with Australia’s Kailani Craine looking to qualify into the top 24, followed by the Pairs Short.  

Figure skater Kailani Craine has a dream – the Olympic Winter Games next February, and the path to that dream crystallises at the 2017 Helsinki World Championships Finland next week.

With 38 Ladies from 29 countries vying for the initial 24 Olympic qualification spots (by nation) at the world championships, the pressure and expectations on all competitors have been mounting.

“I have had to figure out the best possible way t have a good worlds,” Craine said from her Los Angeles training base.
“I’m freaking out because of the Olympics.  It’s fighting for something that’s been your dream.”

The three-time national champion medalled twice late last year in Latvia and Poland and then relocated to LA in mid-December to train with Tiffany Chin ahead of this all-important event.

“The top 24 is where I need to be and in the top 17 is my goal. I will have to have trust in myself and stay in the moment. I do need to enjoy the event – otherwise why am I doing it?”

Only 24 skaters make it through the short program to the final free skate.

“I’ve had good short programs this season and apart from working on the choreography after Four Continents, both programs have stayed the same. I need to work at maximising my points,” she said.

Craine experienced a few niggling foot problems with her Achillies requiring new boots and blades at short notice after the Four Continents Championship and Asian Winter Games in February.
  
“It was lucky that I had new ones waiting. Four Continents wasn’t my best skate and I had to wonder why, then go back to figure it out. The free program was a shock to me and I’ve since changed my training a little bit.”

“Mostly I have to get out of my own head and trust myself – so I will trying to change my game plan going into this comp.”

“That just makes me aware I should really focus in that moment, because I was really well trained. I have been a good competitor in the past and one comp shouldn’t change it.”

The 2017 World Figure Skating Championships begin with the Ladies Short Program on Wednesday, 29 March.

Australia’s six-member figure skating team, with an average age of 17, delivered the ultimate in Taipei at the Junior World Championships coming home with a gold medal, PB’s and a finals appearance.
 
Shock waves and delight reverberated around the figure skating world for Australian pair skaters Harley Windsor and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya  when they became the Junior World Pair Skating Champions. 
 
Indigenous skater Harley, from Western Sydney, and his Moscow-born partner Katia were hoping for a podium finish, beginning their Junior Worlds campaign with a clean short program and PB, finding themselves in third and within two points of the leaders. 
 
Skating first in the final group for the free program, the Australians delivered a soaring, perfectly executed triple twist to open then side-by-side triple jumps, throw triple flip and fast, complex lifts.
 
The ease and confidence with which they attacked the four-minute program shone through scoring a PB for 104.16 for a total of 163.98 points – making them a hard act to follow for the remaining three teams from China and Russia.  


"I'm shocked that we got first place, it's crazy to put Australia in the scene for skating and we're over the moon about the gold medal, I can't put it into words," Harley said.

An ecstatic Katia added: "I can't believe it".
 
For the first time, the Australian flag was raised to the top in an ISU Figure Skating Championship, sending a strong message to other young Australian figure skaters that anything is possible.
 
The Australian team in the stands witnessed history and sang the national anthem for the first time, with many – including ice dancer Matlida Friend, in tears.
 
A day and many press interviews later the pair headlined the Exhibition Gala skating to Peter Allen’s “I Still Call Australia Home”, which was followed by the closing banquet, where the team were honoured yet again by being invited to deliver a ‘thank you’ speech on behalf of all athletes.

Ladies competitor Holly Harris, at just 14 years of age, came away from Junior Worlds with a final placing of 23rd.

The expressive youngster made it into the final 24 out of 44 competitors at her first Junior World Championship with a beautiful short program, which earned her 20th place. Her free program scored 74.87 points for a total 123.11 points.
 
Despite suffering a fall in the free program warm-up in which she injured her hand, the youngster battled through.

“I was really excited to compete at my first junior world championships,” Holly said after the event.

“It has been an amazing experience. I really wanted to make the freeskate to be able to earn more opportunities for Australia in the Junior Grand Prix series next season."
 
Holly’s final placement ensures more Australian junior ladies will have the opportunity to compete in the Junior Grand Prixs next season.

"I was happy with my short program, it wasn't perfect, but I was happy I took the chance to open with the triple lutz/double toe combination and that worked well. But I was disappointed with how I skated my free,"

"I'm looking forward to returning to Australia now for a short break to refresh, then back to training to work hard with my coach Tom to improve for next season.”

Skating to ‘One More Night’, ice dancers Matilda Friend (17) and William Badaoui (18) delivered their best Short Dance of the season posting a massive boost to their PB by over five points to 40.24 and a lift in their world ranking.
The final cut of twenty dance teams in a 31-team field for the Free Dance was always going to be a big ask for the Sydney dance team and they gave it their best, placing 25th.  
The Sapporo Asian Winter Games experience was put to good use in Taipei with both skaters exuding a more attacking style.
“It was not a perfect skate but we’re stoked with a PB,” Matilda said from Taipei.
National Junior Men’s Champion James Min (16) also collected a PB for his short program, scoring 53.72 but landing errors on his triple/triple combo and triple loop cost him a place in the top 24 final free skate and he had to settle for 29th in a 45-trong field. 
 

Australia is celebrating a magic moment in the nation's sporting history with pair skaters Harley Windsor (20) and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya (17) crowned 2017 Junior World Figure Skating Champions after a confident, attacking free program skate in Taipei City, Taiwan.

Coming into the final ranked third after the short program the Aussie couple were all class, outstripping their rivals from the world's skating powerhouse nations to claim the gold medal ahead of Aleksandra Boikova and Dimitrii Kozlovskii from Russia with China's Yumeng Gao and Zhong Xie taking bronze.

It follows their ground-breaking gold medal at a Junior Grand Prix in Estonia last year, another first for Australian figure skating.

Indigenous skater Harley, from Western Sydney, and his Moscow-born partner Katia scored a personal best for their free skate of 104.16 for a final score of 163.98 - another personal best despite a fall on their throw salchow.

They pulled off a clean throw triple flip and side by side triple jump combos in what was their skate of the season.

"I'm shocked that we got first place, it's crazy to put Australia in the scene for skating and we're over the moon about the gold medal, I can't put it into words," Harley said.

An ecstatic Katia added: "I can't believe it".

Hearing the Australian anthem played at a Junior World Figure Skating championships was moment the pair, and a proud country, will savour for ever.

"Mum and dad this is for you!" Harley said from the kiss and cry as they waited for their score.

There were high hopes for this charismatic team going into the Junior Worlds and they didn't disappoint. After placing third in the short program, the Australians were first to skate in the final group of four pairs and their shot at a medal.

Their 4.30 minute free program was packed with difficulty and they delivered with confidence, opening with a quality split triple twist, following up with two side-by-side triple jumps and then the throw triple flip. With mounting points already on the board, the pair relaxed into an engaging performance that ultimately couldn’t be beaten.

Watching in her Sydney home as her husband Andrei travels with their star students, co-coach Galina Pachin was overwhelmed.

“This is a big thing. I am crying and just so proud,” she said.

The Pachins have taught Windsor since he was a nine-year-old and found a partner for their young charge in Moscow when all attempts at a local partnership failed. It was instant magic when Windsor and Alexandrovskaya first teamed up in Sydney in January 2016 and began competing for Australia mid last year.

The pair split their training between Canterbury Ice Rink in Sydney and Moscow with their Sydney-based coaches Andrei and Galina Pachin and will return to Moscow for less than two weeks training before competing at the World Championships in Helsinki, Finland to vie for an Olympic Qualification spot for Australia in the 2018 PyeongChang Olympic Winter Games next February.

Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya and Harley Windsor continue to set new milestones for Australian figure skating, finishing in third place after their first day of competition in the Pairs short program at the World Junior Championships in Taipei, Taiwan.
 
The ranking puts Moscow-born Katia, and Harley, a young indigenous man from western Sydney, in strong medal contention heading into what is guaranteed to be a thrilling free skate to determine the 2017 Junior World Champions late Friday evening.
 
Their score of 59.82 in their short program is just two points behind the leaders, Russians Aleksandra Boikova and Dimitrii Koslovskii.
 
The Australian pair were awarded small bronze medals for their short program at a press conference for the top three pairs after the event.
 
“We have come a long way in a short time,” Windsor said when asked about how the relationship works between the two. “You approach it as a business partnership and keep it very professional, as it is just like a full time job, and so you need to respect one another.”
 
Windsor’s parents were among bleary-eyed supporters celebrating in Sydney after getting up in the middle of the night to watch the couple nail a triple twist lift, perfect side by side double axels and a throw triple flip - a difficult element that only a handful of skaters in the world can do - to notch a new personal best.
 
China's Yumeng Gao and Zhong Xie are in second.
 
In the men's short program earlier in the day South Australian dynamo James Min finished 29th with a PB of 53.72.
 
The competition continues today with Sydney couple Matilda Friend and William Badaoui in the short dance and Holly Harris, the youngest skater on the Australian team, looking to make her mark in the Ladies short program on Friday.

The meteoric rise of Australia’s pair figure skating team Harley Windsor and Katia Alexandrovskaya has been nothing short of amazing.
 
In less than six months on the international scene and a little over a year since the young indigenous man from Rooty Hill in Sydney and his now 17-year-old partner from Moscow teamed up – the pair has set the skating world alight after winning Australia’s first-ever Junior Grand Prix gold medal in Tallinn, Estonia last September and then placing fifth in the Junior Grand Prix Final in December.
 
They are tipped to be in medal contention (all going well) at their first Junior World Championship this week in Taipei and that’s exactly what this team wants as the laid-back Harley and the more impatient Katia meld their strengths and weaknesses to become Australia’s greatest pair team ever.
 
“In the short program we expect to be clean,” Harley said, winked and added, “and second place.”
 
“We wouldn’t want to be too ambitious,” he said laughing. “Actually, if we can do two clean programs and only come fifth – that’s still good.”
 
For Katia the differences between Australians and Russians are stark because this is a young woman with high expectations, who is after the best of herself and of her partner.
 
“Russians are very impatient,” she said, to which Harley chimed in with “extremely impatient.”
 
“Sometimes I don’t understand Australia because in Russia people are often angry but in Australia I see and hear people who are happy and more friendly,” she said.
 
The pair split their training between Sydney and Moscow with their Australian Russian coaches Andrei and Galina Pachin.
 
Whilst Windsor appreciates the training in Moscow, there’s no place like home.
 
“I don’t like it that much over there. There are apartment blocks everywhere but the training is really good. In fact, I have never understood why people want to go to somewhere like New York either.”
 
“Australians are slower and I like flora and fauna around me,” he said.
 
“Too slow sometimes,” piped in Katia.
 
However, the serious-minded 17-year-old has come a long way since first arriving in Sydney just over a year ago with little knowledge of Australia or English. All that has changed.  
 
“The best thing about Australia is “my awesome partner – the weather, beaches and nature,” she said.
 
So, of all things that truly bind this unlikely pair team together – it is a love of the outdoors.
 
After the World Junior Championships this week in Taipei, the pair will return to Moscow for less than two weeks before heading to Helsinki, Finland to compete in the World Championships at the end of March for what promises to be an outstanding event with 29 pair teams entered.
 
The World Figure Skating Championships is also the first qualifying event for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games, where 24 men and ladies places (by nation) will be decided along with 16 pairs and 19 dance spots.
 
The second round of qualifications for PyeongChang 2018 will occur in September at the Olympic Qualifying Competition.  
 
 

Australia’s largest, strongest and youngest Junior Worlds Figure Skating team in recent history will compete at the Junior World Figure Skating Championships in Taipei this week.  
 
Contesting the Ladies, Men, Dance and Pair titles will be Holly Harris (14), James Min (16), ice dancers Matilda Friend (17) and William Badoui (18) and pair skaters Harley Windsor (20) and Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya (17).
 
The rise of pair skaters Windsor and Alexandrovskaya has them tipped as genuine medal contenders.  
 
After winning Australia’s first gold in a Junior Grand Prix and backing it up with a fifth place in the Junior Final and performing high-quality high-level triple throws and twists in their first season, the expectations of the indigenous Sydney-sider and his Moscow-born partner are high.
 
“Last year when we started I could not expect the result we had,” Alexandrovskaya said of their performances so far. “Australia is not a figure skating country. But this (the pairing) has worked.”
 
“We are going for a medal but we have to skate clean to do it,” Windsor said. 

National Junior Men’s Champion James Min is no stranger to world competition who already has two World Junior Championships under his belt (placing 31st and 27th).
 
The engaging Adelaide teenager, who is the eldest son of Cambodian refugees, weighs just 44kgs – but is accomplishing multiple triple jump combinations and what he lacks in stature he makes up for in performance skills and execution.
 
“The key is on-going development,” said coach Richard Laidlaw who has taught Min since his first days on the ice.  
 
“He has a good jumping technique now. All the triples are in place and we will continue to develop quads next season. For now though, it is about doing what he can do well,” Laidlaw said.
 
Min is much more focussed on the process rather than the outcome.
 
“I’m doing clean run throughs and my fitness is great,” he said. “I am obsessed over my lutz at the moment because it’s not 100 percent where I want it to be every day.”
 
“I just need to focus on what I need to do in the moment. Think about the process and not the outcome and do what I do in training.”
 
At 14, Holly Harris is the youngest in the Australian team but has impressed in her debut junior international season placing 11th in her first Junior Grand Prix (Germany) and collecting a silver medal in Riga, Latvia late last year with mature performances, technically and artistically, that belie her tender years.
 
Harris, who trains most of the year in Colorado Springs with her mum Karen looking after her whilst her father and siblings remain in Sydney, is a talent to watch for the future.
 
Coach Tom Zakrajsek confirmed Harris’ potential.
 
“Holly has been working very hard and training very thoroughly to prepare for World Juniors,” Zakrajsek said.
 
“I feel fortunate to be coaching her as she is a young talent with a bright future. She has very specific goals for the event regarding personal bests and she will using her first appearance at theses championships to gain experience so that she can springboard to greater achievements over the next few years.”

For ice dancers Matilda Friend and William Badaoui, its’ another week, another country and another comp.
 
Junior Worlds closes a long and demanding season for duo, who in February, competed back to back in the Four Continents Championship in PyeongChang and the Asian Winter Games in Sapporo, Japan.
 
Baddoui says competing at the Asian Winter Games, where they finished in 6th place with two new PBs, has given them a big confidence boost.
 
"Just the scale and level of competition at Asian Winter Games, everything feels a little bit easier when you come out of a competition that big," he said.
 
"Experiencing something that was so close to an Olympics, which is our ultimate goal, gave us new motivation and drive." Friend said.
 
The Junior and Senior Ice Dance national champions goal for Junior Worlds is to earn a high enough ranking after their short dance to make it through to the free dance , which both acknowledge will require a flawless skate and top effort given the calibre of the 31 teams competing.
 
"But we're also looking for a PB and to improve our ranking from last year,” they said.
 
The Junior World Figure Skating Championships will be held from Wednesday March 15 to 18 in Taipei and begin with the men’s short program on Wednesday followed by the Pairs short.